Cube 3D printer community

General Category => Cube 3D printer discussion => Topic started by: Dan on March 30, 2014, 07:50:39 am


Title: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on March 30, 2014, 07:50:39 am
While researching the Cube 3D printer, I became aware that 3D systems prevent users from using generic PLA filament by inserting a chip into their cartridges which allows the printer's internal computer to roughly gauge how much filament is left in the cartridge (preventing you from starting a print which there's not enough filament to print) . This hack however : http://hackaday.com/2013/04/26/cube-3d-printer-hack-lets-you-use-bulk-filament/ is "supposed" to be the answer.   In actual fact, all it does is waste time and filament, with zero net benefit... Here's why :

A little background.
The cube printer has an inbuilt chip in every single filament cartridge.  It, like many 2D printers provides feedback to the printer's interal computer to allow it know how much "ink" (filament in this case) is left in the cartridge.  It also prevents the user from using an empty cartridge, or reloading the cartridge with more filament once it becomes empty.  3D systems would like you to purchase more expensive filament instead of reloading your old cartridge. They even scare the user by issuing statements to the effect of "only use cube filament in your printer, using 3rd party filament may damage your printer and void your warranty".   

The hackaday article, provides reference to a seemingly useful part which you can print which allows the user to trick the system into using 3rd party filament, all one had to do is accept the Cube printers warning that it is running out of filament, and apparent problem solved.  Wrong.  Problem is, that even if you do use 3rd party filament with this technique, the printer will continue to reduce the "available filament" variable in the filament cartridge's chip.  When this figure reaches zero, the printer will prevent you from using even your third party filament as you are no longer given a warning of which you can accept or deny... You're simply prevented from printing all together. 

The solution. 
I argued with myself as to whether to make this public, as I'm pretty sure 3D systems will do an applesque fix for this in future firmware, but realized I have copys of firmware on my machine which I will make available should 3D systems patch their firmware to prevent this from working. 

Firstly, forget about printing the part in the hackaday article.  It's a waste of filament and electricity.  (Ill explain why in future articles).  Find and print a suitable spool holder for your generic PLA filament.  Make sure you continue to use the cube tube with your new spool holder though as this is actually a novel and useful idea which prevents your filament from malforming before it enters the Cube's extruder.

 To make things simpler, I keep the instructions in note form.  This also assumes you've figured out how to load generic filament into the extruder.

1) make sure you insert a cartridge which contains available filament into the cartridge slot.  This is to trick the printer into allowing you to select a file to print. 
2) start the print as normal.  If there "dummy" cartridge you used was nearly empty, you may be warned about insufficient remaining filament.  If so confirm your intention to proceed by selecting the "tick" icon. 
3) the cube will begin to old the file and heat the extruder.  At ANY TIME during this process, select the "stop" button.
4) you will be asked to confirm if you want to abort the print... DON'T select anything.
5) Now remove the "dummy" cartridge from the printer.
6) the cube printer will continue print the object despite the cartridge being removed and importantly, won't reduce the available filament variable on your dummy cartridge's chip while it is printing.  If you try and do this without pressing the stop button, the sneaky software will force you to replace the cartridge within 30 seconds before aborting the print.

A little messy, but this "hack" actually will allow you to print using bulk filament and provide you with a real net benefit ; cheaper printing. 

Any questions, feel free to ask.
Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on March 31, 2014, 09:51:58 am
Just thought I'd post some picks showing how I've attacked this problem.  Basically I printed a platform to go in the place of the cubes filament cartridge, then I printed a spool holder and glued it to the platform.  On the underside of the platform (not pictured) there's a small cutout which holds a chip I emoved from an almost used cartridge.  When a print starts, I hit the stop button, then pull the platform back a few cm ( and hence spool holder too -as its glued to the platform) to remove the chip from the pins on the bottom of the cartridge bay.  This prevents the chip from being written to while the print is taking place.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: burcinpak on April 14, 2014, 01:14:03 pm
Thanks for the info. I have some questions though, appreciate if you can help.
What kind of generic PLA filament is necessary? I guess its diameter should be 1,75mm but should I care about melting point, do they differ by brand or is it common for all PLAs?
In between step 5 and 6 in your trick, when we remove the dummy cartridge do we press anything to continue printing, or does it continue itself after sometime.?
What is your firmware version? Is this applicable to new versions as well?
Thanks
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on April 15, 2014, 05:31:32 pm
Thanks for the info. I have some questions though, appreciate if you can help.
What kind of generic PLA filament is necessary? I guess its diameter should be 1,75mm but should I care about melting point, do they differ by brand or is it common for all PLAs?
In between step 5 and 6 in your trick, when we remove the dummy cartridge do we press anything to continue printing, or does it continue itself after sometime.?
What is your firmware version? Is this applicable to new versions as well?
Thanks

My firmware version is 2.07.  Basically the latest version.  The only difference between the various PLAs you need to worry about is spool size.  I use repraper 1kg spools.  (The short fat ones). I too am realatively new to using 3rd party spools.  One thing I have noticed with the repraper stuff I'm using is that it appears to extrude with bubbles in the extruded filament.  Also, I notice its not as smooth as the 3d systems filament.  It shouldn't be a problem though as long as you regularly clean your extruded nozzle with a long pin.  If anyone finds a close alternative to the 3d systems stuff, or has comments on the quality of any other brands, please let us know.

When you remove the dummy cartridge, the unit will start and continue to print, regardless of the absence of the cartridge and the fact you have initiated the first stage of the print cancelation.

I hope this helps.

Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: burcinpak on April 16, 2014, 03:32:45 pm
Tested and working fine. Now I ordered makerbot 1.75mm filament and see whats going to happen. It is almost half the price of cube cartridge.
Thanks
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: anikin on June 13, 2014, 10:05:39 pm
Must the dummy be almost empty filament ?
If it is not a almost empty one, does it works ?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on July 20, 2014, 06:27:11 am
No, the dummy can be full, almost empty - whatever - as long as its not completely empty. 

Regards
dan-
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on October 04, 2014, 09:39:54 am
Hi burcinpak
Would you post your opinion and results using the makerbot filament?
I would love to know how the extruder handled it.
Thank you!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on October 04, 2014, 11:02:56 am
Hi Dan,
I really thank you for starting this forum. It is really hard to find online communities hatching out ideas and sharing information about 3d systems printers.  I am going to attempt the bulk filament option due to the high price of the cartridges.  So far i am satisfied with the cube2 3D's prints.  (I was excepting less from a consumer oriented 'high priced' entry level printer.)
My question is about the bulk PLA filament options.  Burcinpak posted using makerbot's PLA filament.  On other blogs i came across people using Octave filaments but the quality doesn't seem to be too good according to the reviews.  What are your findings using various bulk materials? What i would really try to avoid is a clogged print head.
Thank you.
Best
Bobo

Cube2 3D
Firmware: 2.08 with leatest Cubify slicer
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on October 04, 2014, 12:34:47 pm
Follow-up on bulk filaments.
Did some more research....  And it seems to reveal that the CUBE 3D uses 1.60mm - 1.70 proprietary filaments as supposed to the standard 1.65-1.75mm. Has anybody experienced the bulk filament being too thick for the extruder/print head?  MatterHacker filament seems to be the closest one in thickness according to some.
Thanks.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ejayerik on October 21, 2014, 10:37:25 pm
I have. I actually finished this hack tonight and the feeder on my 2nd Gen Cube keeps jamming (slip-click-slip-click) because the 1.75mm filament is too thick. After disassembling the head unit, I've discovered that 3DS makes it very difficult to adjust the gap between the gear and the roller. All of the machined and pressed metal parts seem to be fit so that you can't adjust it.

I'm sure it can be done with some grinding (more than I've already done) as well as some parts purchased online but on the fly = no-go.

I'm researching a parts list to allow for creating a gap and I'll be sure to post it here when I finally get around completing it. 

Finding a filament manufacturer that extrudes or presses the filament closer to the tighter end of 1.70-1.75 would be nice but I've yet to find one that is reliable. Mostly because that's not what tolerances mean in manufacturing. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: diperata on October 22, 2014, 08:00:24 am
Hello, this trick worked for my Cube 2nd generation. I want to know if we can hack the CUBE3 to use bulk filament.. is there a way?
Thank you!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on November 06, 2014, 07:35:48 am
I have some questions about the bulk filament.  I can get the printer to feed the material but I don't think it is getting hot enough to melt it.  The PLA I have is 1.75.  Has anyone else had this problem?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: sf56e on November 06, 2014, 01:27:52 pm
I am using Afina premium PLA and it works just as well as the cube plastic. Also, has anyone upgraded to firmware 2.08? Does this trick still work with that version?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 09, 2014, 08:06:38 pm
Im just trying it on 2.08 at the moment. Fingers crossed. Ill let you know if it works.
Its just lifted the bed up to the head so its looking promising so far!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 09, 2014, 08:47:21 pm
Works perfect with 2.08. Have been printing with Matterhacker filament for weeks.  Bit too thick therefore pulley constantly  has to be adjusted. Please let me know what your experience is with third party filaments. I will definitely try the Afina Permium when done with my kilo of Matterhacker.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 09, 2014, 08:59:42 pm
Filament stopped coming out the print head after a bit. I assume because the filament is too thick? What do I do? I bought 1.75 PLA. Someone help!!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 09, 2014, 09:03:59 pm
Take off the extruder, print head cover and with your 7mm ranch loosen the pulley. Its the first bolt in the front.  What filament are you using?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 09, 2014, 09:06:12 pm
Did you hear a clicking noise before it stopped extruding? Try my suggestion.  It worked for me.  Unfortunately  it constanly has to be adjusted even sometimes during printing
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on November 10, 2014, 11:40:11 am
I have the same problem with the bulk filament.  It started taking it and then quit.  Tried adjusting the pulley but I almost think it doesn't get hot enough to melt it.  When the stock stuff is in there and you remove it and put the bulk in it works for a minute and then quits.  Almost like the melted stock material help heat it until it's all gone.  I can't really tell if the hack works or not since I can't get the bulk material to flow.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 10, 2014, 11:48:17 am
Sf563 suggested Afine Premium. He has had good luck with it. I ll be testing that next...   I have been using MatterHacker (but not premium, premium is thicker) and i have only had pulley issues that i could adjust for.  Melting point is very similar to cube proprietary filament. Other blogs all suggested  MatterHacker Regular.  Also pretty cheap....  1 kilo for $ 33
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 10, 2014, 11:52:58 am
I meant don't  use MatterHacker pro (i wrote premium in previous post). 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 11, 2014, 10:53:37 pm
do i have to remove the fan or anything? or can i just use the flat wrench things that came with it? and im using technologyoutlet premium filament

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I8MRPDM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00)

I heard a clicking sound yes.

Now I have another problem. When I try to load the filament, nothing comes out, i think there may be a jam somewhere. I tried using that thin rod to see if anything comes out but i have no luck.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 12, 2014, 06:45:35 am
Sf563 suggested Afine Premium. He has had good luck with it. I ll be testing that next...   I have been using MatterHacker (but not premium, premium is thicker) and i have only had pulley issues that i could adjust for.  Melting point is very similar to cube proprietary filament. Other blogs all suggested  MatterHacker Regular.  Also pretty cheap....  1 kilo for $ 33

Hmm not sure what PLA you guys are using, but I can use whatever filament I feel like.  One thing that is likely is that the chip you remove must be from a like filament, that is, if you remove the chip from a PLA cartridge, use PLA.  The chip seems to affect the temperature of the hotend among other things. 

I have tried numerous el cheapos from ebay, they all seem fine.  Im in Australia so providing an exact like is probably a waste of time for most.  Currently using this stuff though - works just fine. http://www.cultivate3d.com/   Shipping nice and fast too.  Here the following day.

As per the issues everyone seems to be having, my guess is there's something else crap about these printers which is producing the varied results.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 12, 2014, 07:13:52 am
do i have to remove the fan or anything? or can i just use the flat wrench things that came with it? and im using technologyoutlet premium filament

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I8MRPDM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00)

I heard a clicking sound yes.

Now I have another problem. When I try to load the filament, nothing comes out, i think there may be a jam somewhere. I tried using that thin rod to see if anything comes out but i have no luck.

Any ideas?

That Clicking sound you're hearing is the stepper motor which feeds the filament being overdriven - most likely by something either becoming jammed or the amperage of the stepper not being set correctly.   I have opened this device up and screwed with it quite a bit and can confirm, that if one needs to add a few milliamps of juice to the stepper, there is a number of POTs (4), which if adjusted will increase the amps.  Not sure exactly which one to adjust as I've never had to before, but if you test them by rotating no more that 270 degrees, you should see either a drop or increase in amps.  The POTs may or may not have an end point, meaning if you rotate too far, you might go back to the start (or end as the case may be).    One thing to note, 4 POTs - 1 for each axis +one for the extruder, if you're testing to figure out which one's which be sure that if you evidently adjust the wrong one, that you set it back. 

Honestly I doubt its the AMPS though.  My experience with this hotend has been less than perfect.  The pulley which helps pressurise the filament has lines on it.  If it skips too much, the light sensor sees the lines arent moving and cancels the print.  My best suggestion would be to stick with 1.75mm (as I have done). Ensure you clean out the hotend with the metal stick these come provided with regularly.  If that fails, yes you'll have to remove the fan with the hex tool and adjust whatever you can to ensure filament moves through with just the right amount pressure.  Too much it will jam before it feeds, too little and it will slip.  Further - DO NOT TEST THE HOTEND WITH THE FAN REMOVED!!!!!  There is a thermal fuse which will overheat if you do.  If like me yours blows - just remove the fuse and short the wires.  IMO the thermal fuse is overkill anyway. 

Another thing. If too much filament is present in the hotend at any one time, the hotend will fill and heat will begin to travel back up the feeder, making the filament soft in the funnel just before the hotend.  THis makes a big blob which is a pain in the arse to remove.  THese units have very precisely calculated feed speeds based on the filament width.  Using 2mm filament will likely give you issues.  Its way too thick for the nozzle size and extrusion speed.  Go back to 1.75mm!

Another thing I've found to cause issues is the metal feeder tube just before the pulleys needs to be aligned so the filament feeds straight between the drive gear and pulley.  If the filament is allowed to bend in the space between the metal tube and and pulleys, it wont feed correctly.

Oh, just realized, the stuff I got from Cultivate 3D is 1.70mm - Oh well everything else has been 1.75 so I can safely say anything in that range should be hunky dory.


Hope this helps.
Regards
Dan

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 12, 2014, 07:30:37 am
Thank you Dan for detailed info.   Although I am not sure a about the melting point being different with various colors.  I don't  think the chip makes a difference. I really think cube 3d 2nd gen.  Is using a bit of a thinner filament  than standard 1.75. I will try your suggestion and get the filament that you are using. I also agree the alignment  of the filament is important so the stepping motor and pulley has an easier time feeding it in.   Storm,  i agree with Dan do not remove anything  especially  the fan. For PLA printing i actually add an extra small fan the cool the print bed...  Just remove the cover,  and adjust the pulley.  (i did end up getting a better 7mm wrench but you could use the one it came with).  It's  the first bolt in the front. You alse have a clogged extruder/ head it sounds....   That is easy to fix.  Just use to supplied tool to unclog  the head with. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 12, 2014, 07:33:37 am
Just thought id post another picture of my setup.  One thing I did was remove the chip all together from the cartridge, solder 2 wires to each contact of the chip and connect it to a momentary push button. (see the black button to the right of the filament platform.  THe makes it easy to "Insert" and "remove" the cartridges and has made this hack an absolute pleasure.  Actually this was born out of necessity.  All the pushing in and pulling out of cartridges eventually screwed the chip contacts in the filament bay.  Im glad it did though. Its sooo much easier this way.   
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 12, 2014, 07:42:56 am
Thank you Dan for detailed info.   Although I am not sure a about the melting point being different with various colors.  I don't  think the chip makes a difference. I really think cube 3d 2nd gen.  Is using a bit of a thinner filament  than standard 1.75. I will try your suggestion and get the filament that you are using. I also agree the alignment  of the filament is important so the stepping motor and pulley has an easier time feeding it in.   Storm,  i agree with Dan do not remove anything  especially  the fan. For PLA printing i actually add an extra small fan the cool the print bed...  Just remove the cover,  and adjust the pulley.  (i did end up getting a better 7mm wrench but you could use the one it came with).  It's  the first bolt in the front. You alse have a clogged extruder/ head it sounds....   That is easy to fix.  Just use to supplied tool to unclog  the head with.

The chip definitely makes a difference to temperature with material, but yeah likely not colours. Thinner filament will REALLY be an issue - it will slip easily and not feed quick enough to fill the hotend.
For the record, I've never needed to adjust the pulley, But certainly have noticed there is quite some play in the way the motor fits to the carrier - adjusting this and that tube fixed all my issues. 

Again I just stick with run of the mill 1.75mm.  If you're having issues with this size, I PROMISE your problem is with the mechanics of the printer - all of which is fixable. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 12, 2014, 07:56:16 am
Very funny, I printed very similar rollers for my spools like you Dan. I also printed a a filament feeder on the top of the printer so it aligns it better weith the head.
Bobo
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 12, 2014, 08:13:54 am
I thought the chip determines the type of filament (ABS vs PLA), color and amount left. So you are suggesting that the color makes the difference in melting point? But honestly I really don't think it's a melting point problem. I agree it's mechanical and fixable. In my experience, filament thickness is any issue sometimes, but nothing that cannot be adjusted for. Again, thank you for all your effort to build a community for 3d system consumer printers!
Best,
Bobo
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 12, 2014, 03:34:42 pm
I thought the chip determines the type of filament (ABS vs PLA), color and amount left. So you are suggesting that the color makes the difference in melting point?

No, but colour can certainly make a difference to print quality.  I doubt the chip has any setting that respond to colour. It definitely does increase the hotend temperature for ABS. 
Thanks again for the kind words.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Leo_Aguiar on November 13, 2014, 01:57:25 pm
Any updates on running this on the 2.08 firmware and the adjusting the printer head for thicker filaments?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 14, 2014, 05:48:01 am
Not on the current firmware.  Thicker filament is just not going to happen without replacing the electronics with a mega2560 and ramps 1.4 board.  (Unless it's possible to load alternative firmware onto the current electronics). I'll post an instructional some time.  I really hate the cube firmware... Way too much of a one size fits all approach.  Marlin firmware is allows for so much more useful flexibility.   For the record, I used my cube to print parts for a Classic Rostock printer which I then pulled apart to print a gigantic 2m tall custom rostock which is still under construction.   
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 14, 2014, 08:49:33 pm
Are you running 2.07 currently?  Is that the last firmware  that can handle thicker filament?
Thanks.
Best
Bob
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 14, 2014, 11:31:26 pm
No, Im running 2.08 - By thicker filament, Im assuming you mean 1.75 as apposed to 1.70?  Technically, no firmware from 3D Sytems for this unit will handle thicker filament terribly well.  But.. replace the logic board with an arduino, wire up the motors, thermister, hotend etc and im very sure this would improve the functionality of the unit.  I promise its next on my to do list. -Ill post some photos when I do.  Pretty certainly ill be changing this hotend when I do too.   
Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 15, 2014, 09:23:42 am
Thank you Dan!!
Same here, running 2.08... and can't stand the standard slicer / app that 3d systems provided with the cube 3D.
I am excited to see your soon future upgrades. I assumes with new board you will be able to use custom slicers.
Best,
Bob
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 15, 2014, 12:26:39 pm
ive been trying to get bulk filament working for ages now. its just not feeding properly because i think its too thick. I tried adjusting the bolt on the print head and it did nothing. Help?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 15, 2014, 12:38:45 pm
Also heres a bit more information. i find that when i push pown on the fillament, it starts to extrude. But I dont want to do that everytime im printing something
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 15, 2014, 04:00:30 pm
i also get the clicking noise whenever i try to print and it goes away if i push down on the filament too
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 17, 2014, 05:01:29 am
Storm,   Can you please measure the diameter of the filament you're using?

Does it print for a minute or two by itself? Or not at all?

Have you tried cleaning the hotend by first "changing the filament" (without actually doing so), then when the machine asks for the new filament, cleaning the hotend by pushing the metal rod or suitable sized wire through the hotend?

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 17, 2014, 06:04:37 am
i also get the clicking noise whenever i try to print and it goes away if i push down on the filament too

That clicking noise is caused a) by the toothed feeder gear on the extruder motor shaft slipping or b)from the extruder motor "skipping a step"

The way you can tell is; if the sound is a loud clicking, thud like noise, occurring every 1 second (approx) or more, it's likely the skipping steps, if it's a more regular ticking noise, likely the gear slipping. 

To fix the gear slipping, firstly ensure you're using the filament with an average diameter of 1.75mm.  If this varies slightly, it shouldn't create an issue.  Firstly clean out all plastic from the hotend. Turn off your cube, this will release the extruder stepper motor. Then with fresh filament pushed between the pulley and toothed gear, Loosen the bolt which holds the opposing pressurizing pulley in place. While applying firm pressure in the direction of the toothed gear, tighten the bolt ( you may need extra hands). 
Next, With an empty hotend, ie with all the existing plastic cleared from it (and all remaining plastic cleaned out of it) you should be able to easily, but with some resistance, pass filament through the pulleys into the hot ends entry tube.  As you do, make sure the toothed gear and motor is rotating as you insert and remove the filament.  The toothed gear should not slip during this process, rather it should rotate in perfect sync with the amount of filament you are passing through it.

If the problem is related to skipping steps, the solution won't necessarily be so easy, and may be the result of a number of factors. 

A) as mentioned before, the filament may be way too thick..(2mm filament is too thick IMO)
B)you may need to adjust the amperage going to the extruder motor.  Increasing the amps will give the motor higher tolerance to jammed filament or oversized filament.  To do this you need to open the base of your unit by removing all socket screws from the underside of the unit, exposing the circuit board which runs this puppy.  On it you will notice 4 (logically and from memory) pots (potentiometers).  Each pot adjusts power supply to each of the 4 motors which drive the cube.  One for each axis x y and z,  the other for the extruder.  Now the trouble for you is I've never had to adjust mine, so I can't say which one is which -that you will need to figure out.  Here's how I would do it:  remove the connector at the back of the extruder motor.  Use a multimeter set to measure resistance or continuity- preferably with a beeper.  Jam one end of the mm into one of the pins on the connector, take note of the wire colors leading from the connector and probe every wire on the main board which appears in sets of corresponding colors (there may be multiples) listen for the beep, then adjust the pot which is closest to the connector.  Youre looking for a beep or massive drop in resistance.   

Next, (I've not tested this, but it should work).  Turn on your cube. With your mm set to measure dc voltage (max 20v range) Put the black pole of your mm onto a common earth (any screw hole on the motherboard will do).  Place the positive end of your mm, on the feet of the pot you're going to adjust. Now ask an assistant to very slowly rotate the pot (pref with a ceramic or plastic screwdriver - I very carefully use a metal one) in a clockwise direction.  You should notice the voltage increase as you rotate the pot. The general consensus is to set this to .4v, but take note of the starting value just in case you want to go back to square one. If your printer is jamming increase this value, but no higher than what is necessary to get the filament to reliably extrude. Too high and the motor will run hot, eventually it will skip from overheating or shut down all together.  If that happens, adjust accordingly and try to find the best balance of heat vs reliable extrusion.

Pain in the arse is that every time you test this, you have to put the damn thing back together to some degree.  Use the load filament option to do this test without having to start a print and reassemble the cube completely.

IMO, (with the cube) if you have to adjust this knob beyond .4v, something is jamming your hotend OR you filament is thicker than 1.75 avg.  All printers will jam if you try force more filament through the hotend than what the print speed and hotend specs will allow.  As with the cube you can't adjust heat and speed, your only option is to increase power to the skipping motor, reduce filament diameter and clean your hotend.

Another test I have recently discovered which I think is more accurate is to place on pole of the mm on the feet of your pot, the other jammed in any of the 4 motor wire pins.  ( try to figure out which of the feet is output voltage- adjusting the pot with with you mm probe on the wrong side of the pot should show no change).  Again check the staring value and increase / decrease accordingly.

Be aware, I cant test this yet as my printer is occupied for the next 3-5 days.  If you're not adventurous enough to try this yourself, I'll try do do so and post more accurate instructions when I get a chance. 

Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 17, 2014, 06:44:29 am
Thank you Dan!!
Same here, running 2.08... and can't stand the standard slicer / app that 3d systems provided with the cube 3D.
I am excited to see your soon future upgrades. I assumes with new board you will be able to use custom slicers.
Best,
Bob
Hey, I'm not reinventing the wheel, just using the cubes hardware with a a mega 2560 loaded with marlin.  Sure slic3r is the weapon of choice.  I just started a 19hr print today, 2 large identical objects squeezed onto the same plate.  Watching the stupid way it jumps from one end of the plate to the other without finishing the layer on the side of the plate it's on is ridiculous and has no doubt added about 10hrs to the print.  Clap clap 3d systems.  Only 5 or so more prints before I gleefully rip the guts out of this baby and turn it into a really good printer.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 17, 2014, 06:57:43 am
That is a nice arduino board.  Very nice ☺.  I weren't in a middle of a project would love do some real tinkering also.  Good luck with the remaining 5 prints and the following surgery on poor old cube
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: merva on November 18, 2014, 05:32:39 am
Dear Dan,

Thank you so much,

It's working !! (ver 2.08)

i can't  see how much time is left but this is nothing compaired to the

BIG MONEY SAVING  YOU GAVE US !!!!!

Thank you again

daniel
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 19, 2014, 02:00:05 am
No problems, great to hear it works for you too.  If you return to the print window during the print by press the cancel (x) button, you can get the remaining print time. You do have to check quickly though and return to the cancel print confirmation screen before the cube realizes the cartridge is removed.  You should check my post about wiring a button onto the chip as eventually all that inserting and removing of cartridges will ruin the metal contacts in the bottom of the filament bay.

Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: merva on November 19, 2014, 05:35:18 am
Thank's dan,

Thank you again,  I tried what you said and you where Wright again,  I can see now the remaining time and then press stop - great

Going to print more now .....

Thanks'

daniel

e.g. about the switch - later

e.g.

 I was trying to put beck in empty cartridge the new amount ( I put the empty cartridge back  almost in the end of the process) but no success (it's not so  important as I have a new full which is doing the job to initiate the printing like you discovered)
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 19, 2014, 07:15:06 pm
hi all,

sorry about the late replies. I ended up getting a new filament instead which seemed to do the trick! i think it is slightly thinner. Also, id recommend people going for the slightly more translucent filament as this is what worked for me.

Its printing fine right now.

Thanks for all the help dan, you really are a penny saver!

+1
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on November 19, 2014, 10:16:47 pm
Hi Storm.  What brand did you go with at the end.   
Best,  Bob
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on November 20, 2014, 05:41:29 am
For the Ultimate Bulk Filament hack - check out this   ;D : http://cube3d.createaforum.com/general-discussion/frankencube-v0-1-its-alive!!!/
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on November 20, 2014, 06:02:58 am
Hi,
I went with filaprint, it's quite good. Just finished printing this morning and I am very impressed
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: yimbiraralik on December 10, 2014, 05:22:27 pm
Hi all, I wondered something ::), I have cube 1st generation, firmware is 1.06. Does firmware 2.x.x mean that for cube 2nd generation ?
Can I use 2.0.8 for my cube ? ???
I have 2 cardridge, I had use them for trick 3d printer, but I did not take them off while printing, so when I try new print, cube says, " The cardridge is empty ". I have full cardridge so I'll try Dan's way, so I wonder, If I up/downgrade firmware to v1.00 can I use again them for start another print as a half load cardridge ? Or When start printing with full cardridge, and then take off it, is that printer write a new information to cardridge?
Sorry my English, I hope I could explain.
Thanks.


"" Jason says:
January 16, 2014 at 5:49 am
These are the hex files I’ve got for my gen1 cube: v0.24, v1.00, v1.06, v1.07 and v1.10.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By9lF8Q3EZlNeVdhZUZlV1kyS2M&usp=sharing

v1.10 doesn’t allow the cartridge swap trick. v1.07 does allow you to change cartridges, but doesn’t reset the amount of filament left in the ‘empty’ cartridge as outlined by Kevin and others. v1.00 does reset the filament amount, but has a bug that stops the ‘firmware update’ button working. If you use this one, you’ll have to do a factory reset to start the cube in firmware loader mode. (Hold the round function button on the front of the Cube and plug the machine back in while continuing to hold the button. Note: this will remove all your saved settings!)  ""
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 11, 2014, 03:37:20 am
Cant answer the question, but can say this; doesnt the cube 1 have a heated bed?  The Cube2 doesnt so im fairly sure you'd lose that functionality if you tried.    If it helps, the cube 2 uses the following chip : PIC32MX440F256H.  This is used on a number of *dunio boards.  Perhaps trying to to load firmware and following the load process from some of those boards will work?  That way you could add functionality to the board without having to build a frankencube???

dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: yimbiraralik on December 12, 2014, 08:01:03 pm
Thanks your reply :) I got it finally. I rewrite as full with the printer. I used that way is,started with  full cardridge(very little print), stop, changed cardridge, and machine write to totaly empty cardridge as full :)
now I just need better slicer :(

Cubify cube gen1 firmware v1.06
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Giò on December 13, 2014, 02:04:47 am
About a better slice, you should look into this thread :
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=fr#!topic/kisslicer-refugee-camp/ZMuIrtn5Mfo

You can use Kisslicer to slice a bfb file, than you can use Codex to encode the file to a CUBEPRO file and if you rename the file to CUBE you can print it.
The only thing is find the right lines to add to the header of the bfb file before encoding.

Here's the header of an original cube file decoded :
^Firmware:V1.10
^DRM:000000000000
^Material: 16.081
M227 P100 S100
M107
M204 S150
M104 S260
G4 P30
M228 P0 S100
M108 S25.0
#Vector T22
M103

I have a Cubex and I can't help you more than this, you have to do some tests to find the right lines to use into the header and the right parameters to use into Kisslicer.
Happy printing.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 16, 2014, 03:20:32 am
Now That! is a good hack.  Makes me wish my Cube Motherboard wasn't sitting in the bottom of my parts box.  Awesome work.  Thanks for sharing. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on December 17, 2014, 07:05:40 pm
What am I going to have to do to get this thing to even extrude bulk filament.  I have tried adjusting the nuts but it feeds it then almost like it is to big for the hot end.  If I do manage to get it to go and then it cools its almost impossible to remove.  Do I need to make the hole in the head bigger?  How is everyone else getting this to work?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: storm4077 on December 17, 2014, 09:46:31 pm
Hi dude,
The problem for me was the filament itself. Is the filament your using pure white? Because I found going for a more translucent PLA seemed to do the trick
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 18, 2014, 03:37:47 am
What am I going to have to do to get this thing to even extrude bulk filament.  I have tried adjusting the nuts but it feeds it then almost like it is to big for the hot end.  If I do manage to get it to go and then it cools its almost impossible to remove.  Do I need to make the hole in the head bigger?  How is everyone else getting this to work?

Get a thermocouple type K thermometer and report back the temperature of the hotend.  THey cost about $10 on ebay. Sounds to me like it's too cold.  Mine runs (ran) at 210 deg C
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on December 18, 2014, 11:53:01 am
You are the man Dan!!! Got this thing working after only a couple hours of adjusting and cleaning out the head. I am using matterhacker black PLA and it seems to be very much compared to the cube filament. I would like to add a switch like yours but can you give a little more detail on how to do it?

Here is a picture of my setup. Thanks Dan!!!!

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on December 18, 2014, 12:50:48 pm
We are getting a temp of 170C by touching the outside of the nozzle when loading and unloading filament.


What am I going to have to do to get this thing to even extrude bulk filament.  I have tried adjusting the nuts but it feeds it then almost like it is to big for the hot end.  If I do manage to get it to go and then it cools its almost impossible to remove.  Do I need to make the hole in the head bigger?  How is everyone else getting this to work?

Get a thermocouple type K thermometer and report back the temperature of the hotend.  THey cost about $10 on ebay. Sounds to me like it's too cold.  Mine runs (ran) at 210 deg C

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on December 19, 2014, 09:18:11 am
I take that back.  It did get up to 213C.  When do you check it and where exactly do you measure?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on December 19, 2014, 03:04:50 pm
Hittinbottom:

It sounds like your head is still clogged. Try to heat up the straight pin until red hot and stick in hole while it is in load mode (saying to push on filament), keep pushing down but not up too much as it is hot and will make more of a mess in the tube above heat head. Another method is first unplug cube, disassemble fan and pulley, place a drop of sewing machine oil in tube, then heat up the pin again and slightly insert in tube, let it cool, then twist and pull plastic upward. It can can take many times to clear out! Good luck!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 21, 2014, 06:59:27 am
You are the man Dan!!! Got this thing working after only a couple hours of adjusting and cleaning out the head. I am using matterhacker black PLA and it seems to be very much compared to the cube filament. I would like to add a switch like yours but can you give a little more detail on how to do it?

Here is a picture of my setup. Thanks Dan!!!!

A really crap picture of how it's done. nothing special here, just a basic switch.  (Note I used a momentary push button on mine- it doesnt matter what you use as long as you remember to release the switch after the firmware has checked the cartridge.  With a momentary switch, the button is released when your hand is - therefore no forgetting - remove your hand and the switch is open, push it in and the switch is closed, completing the connection).
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 21, 2014, 07:26:57 am
Hmmm.  way too cold.  170 is the quoted extrusion temp of most PLAs I have used.  Perhaps my current 100K epcos thermister is out, but If I try to extrude at 170 degrees with the new setup, the extruder skips steps and also slips on the filament, eventually the extruder becomes blocked.  If your extruder is hot enough AND the extuder is ROUGHLY aligned right (it doesnt need to be perfect), it should have no problem pushing through filament.  To measure, I just taped (using kapton) my thermocouple to the brass part of the hotendand ran it through a filament load process.  Mine got to roughly 210 degrees before it started pulling through filament. 

I wish I took some pictures of this before I tore apart the existing setup.  Sorry about that.  Regardless my factory setup worked fine with ANY **** filament I would use.  But the temp of mine measured 210 with PLA.  Knowing 3D printers and their components, I wouldnt be suprised if your printer runs cooler than mine.  If I take 3 thermisters and 3 heater cartridges - all of the same type, there is definitely considerable variation between them if used in the same setup.   These electronics are not accurate unless they have been calibrated.  Perhaps yours wasn't before it left the factory.

Saying all this, PLA melts and extrudes OK at 170 - just not as nearly as well as PLA at 210. In my experience.

I believe temperature settings are stored in the .cube file anyway.  Looking at some of the recent posts, it appears you may be able to compensate for your particular setup by increasing the temp in your sliced files.   
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on December 22, 2014, 12:00:45 am
You are the man Dan!!! Got this thing working after only a couple hours of adjusting and cleaning out the head. I am using matterhacker black PLA and it seems to be very much compared to the cube filament. I would like to add a switch like yours but can you give a little more detail on how to do it?

Here is a picture of my setup. Thanks Dan!!!!

A really crap picture of how it's done. nothing special here, just a basic switch.  (Note I used a momentary push button on mine- it doesnt matter what you use as long as you remember to release the switch after the firmware has checked the cartridge.  With a momentary switch, the button is released when your hand is - therefore no forgetting - remove your hand and the switch is open, push it in and the switch is closed, completing the connection).

I would like to add an additional switch to toggle back and forth between PLA and ABS chips along with the momentary switch. I already screwed up one chip trying to dissect it from the case, so I do not want to screw up any more chips (even though that one was a freebie anyway), any suggestions would be appreciated.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 22, 2014, 03:53:41 am
the chip should fall out of the filament spool case when the case is unclipped.  You should find clips all along the perimeter of the casing, just stick a screw driver in there.   I really hope you're not dissecting the chip itself.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on December 22, 2014, 10:49:12 am
the chip should fall out of the filament spool case when the case is unclipped.  You should find clips all along the perimeter of the casing, just stick a screw driver in there.   I really hope you're not dissecting the chip itself.

Yes I meant the case, one time I had the crappy cube filament crack inside so I had to disassemble case. When I put all back including chip in place cube did not recognize chip, so I am concerned about paying $50 bucks for nothing.

Anyways, I would like to print some kind of box that will contain the swiches and chips that can be easily removed from the contacts. Here is a wiring diagram of what I was thinking? Is this possible and do I use DPDT or DPST switch? Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on December 22, 2014, 12:35:39 pm
It got up to 213C.  What type of text editor are you guys using to be able to open the .cube file? 

Hmmm.  way too cold.  170 is the quoted extrusion temp of most PLAs I have used.  Perhaps my current 100K epcos thermister is out, but If I try to extrude at 170 degrees with the new setup, the extruder skips steps and also slips on the filament, eventually the extruder becomes blocked.  If your extruder is hot enough AND the extuder is ROUGHLY aligned right (it doesnt need to be perfect), it should have no problem pushing through filament.  To measure, I just taped (using kapton) my thermocouple to the brass part of the hotendand ran it through a filament load process.  Mine got to roughly 210 degrees before it started pulling through filament. 

I wish I took some pictures of this before I tore apart the existing setup.  Sorry about that.  Regardless my factory setup worked fine with ANY **** filament I would use.  But the temp of mine measured 210 with PLA.  Knowing 3D printers and their components, I wouldnt be suprised if your printer runs cooler than mine.  If I take 3 thermisters and 3 heater cartridges - all of the same type, there is definitely considerable variation between them if used in the same setup.   These electronics are not accurate unless they have been calibrated.  Perhaps yours wasn't before it left the factory.

Saying all this, PLA melts and extrudes OK at 170 - just not as nearly as well as PLA at 210. In my experience.

I believe temperature settings are stored in the .cube file anyway.  Looking at some of the recent posts, it appears you may be able to compensate for your particular setup by increasing the temp in your sliced files.   
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on December 29, 2014, 06:38:05 am

Yes I meant the case, one time I had the crappy cube filament crack inside so I had to disassemble case. When I put all back including chip in place cube did not recognize chip, so I am concerned about paying $50 bucks for nothing.

Anyways, I would like to print some kind of box that will contain the swiches and chips that can be easily removed from the contacts. Here is a wiring diagram of what I was thinking? Is this possible and do I use DPDT or DPST switch? Thanks in advance.

The connectors will break off eventually anyway, so wiring something else is going to be necessary..DPDT or ST???  I have no idea.  Well beyond my level of understanding.  Do they not do the same thing?  I would think whatever you need may need 4 inputs though? Perhaps a 3 position switch returing to open circuit when released?

Sorry man.  I'm an electro hack. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on December 31, 2014, 12:05:42 pm

Yes I meant the case, one time I had the crappy cube filament crack inside so I had to disassemble case. When I put all back including chip in place cube did not recognize chip, so I am concerned about paying $50 bucks for nothing.

Anyways, I would like to print some kind of box that will contain the swiches and chips that can be easily removed from the contacts. Here is a wiring diagram of what I was thinking? Is this possible and do I use DPDT or DPST switch? Thanks in advance.

The connectors will break off eventually anyway, so wiring something else is going to be necessary..DPDT or ST???  I have no idea.  Well beyond my level of understanding.  Do they not do the same thing?  I would think whatever you need may need 4 inputs though? Perhaps a 3 position switch returing to open circuit when released?

Sorry man.  I'm an electro hack.

That is even a better idea using a 3 position DPDT switch, that way I can eliminate the momentary switch... I will update when designed and printed! Thanks.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Goosey73 on January 18, 2015, 07:35:42 pm
Im fairly new to the cube and 3d printing for that matter i tried using some bulk filament but i hear the click sound. I see people saying they adjust the pulley or the head but im not really sure how to go about either. If anyone could post pictures of where im supposed to adjust stuff it would be extremely helpful to me.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 18, 2015, 07:56:07 pm
Remove plastic cover of the print head.  Then in the front you will see the 7mm bolt.  Loosen that bolt with the included wrench and adjust it while you are printing.  I don't have the machine front of me but i can send you some pics by mid week.  Maybe sombody else could upload an image for you.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Goosey73 on January 18, 2015, 08:20:35 pm
Honestly that would be great. Thank you  :)
Edit: Now it has a small piece of filament stuck in it and i cant push it out.....great
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on January 19, 2015, 10:41:24 pm
Honestly that would be great. Thank you  :)
Edit: Now it has a small piece of filament stuck in it and i cant push it out.....great

Try to heat up the straight pin until red hot and stick in hole while it is in load mode (saying to push on filament), keep pushing down but not up too much as it is hot and will make more of a mess in the tube above heat head. Another method is first unplug cube, disassemble fan and pulley, place a drop of sewing machine oil in tube, then heat up the pin again and slightly insert in tube, let it cool, then twist and pull plastic upward. It can can take many times to clear out! Good luck!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Goosey73 on January 20, 2015, 06:52:18 am
Sweet thanks Vicm. That works like a charm. Well a charm with some force. Hopefully I can get the filament to feed through soon. After I figure out were the pulley is.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 20, 2015, 12:31:41 pm
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/20/e14779993d0b747cb2699ce736b0e10d.jpg)
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 20, 2015, 12:32:42 pm
7 mm wrench.  Adjust it while printing
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Goosey73 on January 20, 2015, 02:03:36 pm
I tried that. And it worked for a few layers. Then it wouldn't work at all unless I was pushing on the filament
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 20, 2015, 02:18:47 pm
Then i would say that your filament is too thick.  The issue is that the cube 2 filament is truly less then 1.75 it really is around 1.69. You have to find a third party filament that runs on the thinner side.  I use mattherhackers natural pla.  (not the pro,  that is thicker. ) you got to read around what othets use.  Some had luck with octave pla's
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 20, 2015, 02:21:01 pm
Measure yours and the stock cartridge with a caliper and compare
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Vicm on January 21, 2015, 08:32:37 pm
I use mattherhackers natural pla.  (not the pro, that is thicker)

I agree, Matterhacker is very comparable to the proprietary Cube filament. I have no problems with black or white PLA (of course after adjustment).
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on January 22, 2015, 07:58:36 am
My 2 cents :Was discussing the matter of filament variation with a very experienced friend of mine the other day.  Again, we both agreed - if your printer isnt working with crap filament - something is terribly wrong, and chances are it's not the filament.  Both of us regularly use the cheapest crap available and the worst result I get from crap filament is slight blobbing from over extrusion or perhaps thinner walls from undersized filament.  We've both experienced blockages and extrusion failures, but they're always because of something else - generally filament heating up inside the neck of the hotend from under cooling and poor entry alignment, including the MK7.

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 22, 2015, 12:42:59 pm
I agree with with you that the quality of the filament should not matter wether the printer will print or not.  It should work with the cube.  If the thickness is inconsistent,  which is true for bad quality filaments then the pulley will have to be adjusted during printing.  We were mainly talking about overall thickness not quality.  In his case (clicking and not feeding)  the filament is either too thick or its a clogged extruder. More likely clogged nozzle
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bloodclot on January 23, 2015, 03:37:00 pm
when you pull the head apart on the side with a pulley there is a notch on the mounding bracket that the pulley aligns with take a small diamond file and go at that notch for a few minutes. it took me about half an hour to do the whole thing. after i did that no more jams with standard 1.75 filament. i just finished an 8 hour print without a single problem or jam. i have not tested to see if the cube filament still works but the gear does still grab it and feeds it i just have not tested it on a print (i dont want to pay another $50 for a cart to test). i ordered a few other brands of filament to test and make sure that all of them feed correctly. im intending to reverse engineer the firmware and see if i can get this thing to never ask for a cart again and give users the ability to have more control over the settings.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on January 24, 2015, 06:34:16 am
Bobobob..  I notice you're printing on blue tape.  How do you find it?  Does it work as well as glue?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: bobobobicsek on January 24, 2015, 08:22:12 am
Hi Dan,
I am just very used to printing on blue tape with PLA on my FF Creator Pro. It works well, and don't have to wash the glass constantly (have been doing a lot of small cube and torture tests with Camstar using KISSlicer and Codex and lazy to walk to the sink  :) ).
For smaller prints I just wipe it with denatured alcohol, for larger prints I do apply a little elmers washable clear school glue. works like charm. With glass though, one does get a smoother first layer bottom, but I am not too concerned about that usually.
Although in general, I do miss having 50 Celsius for the first few layers..
Bobo
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: tonyp on February 26, 2015, 06:06:09 pm
I just got 11 roles at Radio Shack for $4 each (regular $40).
RS brand of PLA works great, very uniform 1.75mm thickness.
I can hear the pulley teeth chugging sometimes, just make sure you give enough slack.

Some of the rolls are ABS and will try someday.


Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ssstraub on March 02, 2015, 11:37:19 am
Great hack, Dan. I probably wouldn't even use this printer (which was given to me, so can't really complain much!) without access to the 5x cheaper filament. Thanks for creating this website and posting that helpful info.

I'm currently using Matterhacker's silver PLA and while it is working, it does slip-skip sometimes. The pulley and gear always move perfectly together, even during the slip-click, so I assume that means it is right on the edge of it's ability to pull it through and struggling. Obviously it's no fun when a layer is only partially laid down in the middle of the print!

I have taking the head apart and filed it a little bit so the pulley could move slightly further from the gear, but apparently not enough. I'm a bit nervous about overdoing the filing and causing it to slip so I only took off a small amount. I think I'm going to do a bit more filing since i can see the gear is still gripping the filament quite well by the marks it's leaving, and if that doesn't work, try adjusting the pot.

Wondering if anyone has tried to adjust the pot for their extruder on their 2nd gen Cube yet and if so, how it worked out?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ssstraub on March 02, 2015, 07:20:10 pm
Well I think I fixed my own problem. I took apart the print head again and this time when I reassembled the pulley and carrier I made sure a piece of filament (matterhackers) was inserted before tightening the nut.

I've printed two small objects now with not a single slip-click that I noticed! Much better.
Title: Re: 1.6mm Filament source ...
Post by: SolidWorksMagi on March 03, 2015, 06:32:08 am
If this guy gets enough customers for 1.6mm CUBE bulk filament he's ready to start selling it by the Kg.
http://www.justfilaments.com/

Ronald Leung <ronald.leung@sourcingfar.com>

Let him know I sent you ... I've worked with him for a few years now and he's good with speedy $1 delivery!

I need a source to buy 1.6mm Bulk PLA Filament

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XDLsJeau-o
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: chaman on March 09, 2015, 01:37:59 pm
thank you dan for your hack but i would like to know if anyone tried this hack with cube 3 3d generation
 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: nrscx18 on March 19, 2015, 06:46:54 pm
hola soy nuevo en esto tambien tengo un CUBE pero quiero saber si alguien me ayuda a hacerlo mas facil posible.. porque lei todos los temas y me confundi bastante si alguien puede crear un video y alzarlo o compartir seria estupendo muchas gracias
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Felix on March 19, 2015, 10:07:16 pm
Hey guys, could you please help me out.  I have a cube 2nd gen trying to use bulk hack with makerbot pla 1.75mm. The problem is that half way through printing, the filament starts to get stripped by the gear. If i loosen the gear, then the black and white stripped gear stops spinning because it cant grip the filament. I know its trial and error but can someone pls tell me how to set the correct tension of it using a spanner (e.g. place the filament first and then put the bolt on) Pls help guys. It would be much appreciate. Cheers !
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ssstraub on March 20, 2015, 01:11:30 pm
Hey guys, could you please help me out.  I have a cube 2nd gen trying to use bulk hack with makerbot pla 1.75mm. The problem is that half way through printing, the filament starts to get stripped by the gear. If i loosen the gear, then the black and white stripped gear stops spinning because it cant grip the filament. I know its trial and error but can someone pls tell me how to set the correct tension of it using a spanner (e.g. place the filament first and then put the bolt on) Pls help guys. It would be much appreciate. Cheers !

The steps I did:
1. Disassembled the print head.
2. Very slightly filed down the triangular notch that the pulley rests against to allow it to move very slightly further from the gear.
3. Re-assembled the print head with a fresh piece of matterhackers PLA inserted between the gear and pulley when tightening the 7mm nut.

I'm not sure #2 was actually necessary. #3 made a big difference as on my first attempt I tightened the nut without a piece of PLA in place and there results weren't good. Since doing those things, I've ran probably 40 hours of printing on it using matterhackers PLA in 3 different colors with zero feed problems!

The only problem I have now is sometimes the object will come unstuck from the print plate before it's finished printing, but I'm not sure what can be done to ever make that 100%. Applying CubeStick seems more of an art than a science.
Title: Re: Crap hack ... Problem solved w/ CUBE 3D FREE & 1.6mm Bulk Filament
Post by: SolidWorksMagi on March 24, 2015, 01:21:35 pm
CUBE 2 3D Printer + CUBE 3D Free both PLA & ABS Bulk Printing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td96uCBNtNw


No more $50 + $7.50 S&H for 3D Systems CUBE 1&2 Printers ...
http://www.cube3dfree.com/
and 1.6mm Bulk Filament from;  http://3dprintingsupplies.bigcartel.com/

I found a source for 1.6mm bulk filaments ... ronald.leung@sourcingfar.com ... both ABS and PLA for cheap!  Using the CUBE 3D FREE and Bulk Filaments now I can print better quality than many more expensive printers while using bulk filament spools ...
http://3dprintingsupplies.bigcartel.com/
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ssstraub on March 24, 2015, 03:33:31 pm
I've found no need for 1.6 mm filament or an expensive add-on. ::) Just use the instructions in this very thread. Easy and free!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: rvalotta on April 13, 2015, 10:21:08 am
Silly Question will this work with a chip from a cartridge that is near empty?

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: gais on April 13, 2015, 02:58:11 pm
Yes. You can even press "stop" when the printer is warming up, before it actually starts printing.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: nrscx18 on April 21, 2015, 05:46:55 pm
hola necesito ayuda porfavor tengo error flow fail filament con el FILAMENT Marketbot 1.75mm.... yo necesito ayuda porfavor me costo muy caro y necesito ayuda
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on April 26, 2015, 09:12:15 am
hola necesito ayuda porfavor tengo error flow fail filament con el FILAMENT Marketbot 1.75mm.... yo necesito ayuda porfavor me costo muy caro y necesito ayuda

Posting in english might help!   I believe this question has been asked and answered a number of times in this very thread.  Just go back to page 1-5 and read the posts. 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Victor Brandão on May 27, 2015, 12:22:24 am
PERSONAL HELLO,

For all users of the 3D printer CUBE who wish to use other types of filaments, we present a simple and free way to how this is possible.

Learn how to use the filament other manufacturers CUBE 3D printer .....

1 - Check the firmware version (V2.00 OK ///// v2.08 DOES NOT WORK)

2 -Change FIRMWARE VERSION (ENTER SITE TO DOWNLOAD V2.00)

3 - Start printing with a full cartridge

4 - WAIT 2 minutes and replacing only cartridge filled IN EMPTY

5 - MORE wait 5 minutes, then click STOP PRINTING

6 - Check the cartridge level


SITE: >>>

http://www.vbchobby.com.br/impressora-3d/DOWNLOAD-FIRMWARE-CUBE-3D-PRINTER
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Dan on May 31, 2015, 02:13:03 am
So sweet.  THanks for the tip.   Sounds like a great option for those not willing to remove and replace the electronics or tweak the cube files. 

Regards
Dan
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Balztj on June 05, 2015, 11:00:37 pm
Does anyone have the dimensions for the cube tube? Mine got misplaced in a move and my bulk filament mount needs the cube tube. I absolutely refuse to pay $30 for 3 1 ft pieces if 19¢ tubing.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: SB4Wall on September 01, 2015, 05:46:45 pm
I currently have a CubePro, which has a similar cartridge.  Has anyone successful bypassed the cartridge on one of these printers?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: brockscube on October 29, 2015, 09:49:23 am
I have a Cube 2 and I am trying to use bulk filament. I trick the printer already ,but now ether no filament is coming out or it will abort the print by its self. What do I do??
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Twiz on March 24, 2016, 07:59:59 pm
Have owned a Cube 3D type 2 for nearly 20 hours now. Also owner for 6 months of CTC dual extruder 3D printer.

Out of the box experience OK so far. Prints well with cartridges supplied.

Bulk filament using Crap Hack working extremely well after adjusting the filament drive to accept the slightly larger 1.75mm reels of PLA and ABS I have.

Currently use the Cube for PLA as it does not need a heated bed. CTC for ABS using heated bed and Makerbot Desktop.

Using Makerbot to refine STL models before importing into Cube 3D Software to create Cube print files.

Working on using a Makerbot controller for the Cube so I have better control, but OK as is at the moment.

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on March 25, 2016, 07:28:18 am
How did you adjust your filament drive for the bulk filament?
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Twiz on March 27, 2016, 01:23:09 am
My way:
1. After unplugging power supply, remove extruder cover.
2. Remove 2 front screws holding the fan in place. (Torx T8 I think) Careful not to drop the standoffs and carefully move the pcb aside on its wires.
3. Loosen the Nut now revealed next to the calibration disk (black & white segmented wheel)
4. Push a section of 1.75mm filament through the feeder. This should press the filament retaining wheel out a smidgen.
5. Gently tighten the nut up again. All being well the gap will be slightly wider than originally set.
6. Gently pull the filament out again.
7. Reassemble the pcb, standoffs and fan.
8. Replace cover and power up.
9. Load filament using the standard process.

For me this worked first time and I have now printed a number of objects without issue.


Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Twiz on March 27, 2016, 01:25:52 am
Finished modding the Cube3D Gen 2 for bulk printing.
Using the Crap Hack for printing, but looking at installing a cartridge chip in the machine with a momentary push switch and timer to disconnect after 1 minute. Means I can use bulk filament, without forgetting to unplug the cartridge after hitting the STOP button.
Used the http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:76083 and added a spool mount on the side from my CTC. See photos.
Going to start with Slic3r and modding the G-Code files for better control and print quality next.
After that probably gut the gadget and build a Ramps controller into the chassis.
Definitely not impressed with 3DS filament pricing and policies.
Also using UHU glue on blue tape on the platform. UHU with a little water makes a useful surface for PLA to grip onto the tape and is relatively easy to remove build afterwards.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on March 27, 2016, 12:58:40 pm
Finished modding the Cube3D Gen 2 for bulk printing.
Using the Crap Hack for printing, but looking at installing a cartridge chip in the machine with a momentary push switch and timer to disconnect after 1 minute. Means I can use bulk filament, without forgetting to unplug the cartridge after hitting the STOP button.
Used the http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:76083 and added a spool mount on the side from my CTC. See photos.
Going to start with Slic3r and modding the G-Code files for better control and print quality next.
After that probably gut the gadget and build a Ramps controller into the chassis.
Definitely not impressed with 3DS filament pricing and policies.
Also using UHU glue on blue tape on the platform. UHU with a little water makes a useful surface for PLA to grip onto the tape and is relatively easy to remove build afterwards.

Have you had any success with Slic3r? Last time i tried, all the printer options produced g-code that is incompatible with Cube. I've been using Kisslicer mostly and last week i switched to Cura. Kisslicer is quite ok, but the quality needs some tweaking regards solids in small areas (over extrusion). With Cura i get better quality prints, but with default Cube extruder i hear the extruder stepper skipping steps (seems to be related to prime/suck options). I'm switching to Aitrippers Bowden extruder as soon as i get time to assemble it, hopefully it fixes that problem.

I wrote a small python script to do some post processing for the g-code and it supports Kisslicer 1.5b and Cura 1.5 currently. https://github.com/spegelius/CubePostprocessor#cubepostprocessor
Doens't do much currently, but for both it removes all comments and cleans the file so Cube reads it (after CodeX).
For Kisslicer, i have option to adjust infill and solid ratio and WIP feature to detect when 2 perimeters are side by side and make sure those are actually connected. Currently printing 1mm wall leaves very small gap between the perimeters (0.5mm each)
For Cura, i change first layer temp 10 C higher that the temp used for later layers.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on March 27, 2016, 01:31:40 pm
Also i'd like to incorporate CodeX functionality to my own scripts, but don't know what type of encoding is used. Looking at Cube software's install directory, i see Apex.DLL and Apex seems to be some kind of encoding/decoding library. If i understood correctly, a key is needed for encoding and decoding...
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Twiz on March 27, 2016, 10:42:28 pm
Hi Spegelius,
Easter break, so no progress on Slic3r, but happy to try Kisslicer or Cura.
Coming to the conclusion that the SW with the Cube is archaic, arcane and a pain when you want any refinements.
Anyway, thought I'd stress test the Cube and see what would happen when given an organic design to print.

So, in a fit of universal optimism, I loaded http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1210985 (Hunters Skull), used a raft, no supports and let it go. Estimated print time 8 hours 45mins. So far 2 hours in and it's looking good.
A few random strings but other than that no apparent hassles considering the complexity and some interesting bridges and air gaps to contend with. Also printing without the extruder cover, results, at least in my office, appear better.
Will likely switch extruder sometime soon as well.

Guess I see the Cube as a "Build it again Project" for the Australian winter weekends while using the CTC dual for more serious objects.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Twiz on March 28, 2016, 07:19:26 am
OK, marathon print completed with bulk filament over 9 hours.
Extremely happy with the result. Very little cleanup for the finished object.
I can see me using the Cube for more of my organic  models.
Sorry about the Crap photos, USB endoscope camera on a flexible mount, but not really in the correct focal plane.
Still, shows the progress and finished Skull.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on March 29, 2016, 02:26:31 pm
Nice. Is that sliced with Cube's own SW? It's actually not bad with most objects, but there are some corner cases that make it almost unusable with some objects. Also the supports are damn hard to remove. My guess is that Cube SW compensates for the lack of heated bed with well sticking raft and supports.

I got my Bowden extruder installed and so far it's working fine. Had to change the original stepper to new high current Nema 17, it just didn't seem strong enough and the axle was too short for the Airtrippers extruder. Had to reverse two wires to make the extruder reverse it's direction and now everything seems to work fine. Printing my first test object and it does seem that some of the small problems apparent with the original Cube direct drive extruder aren't there anymore: extrusion seems more even and there's no skipping steps when printing objects sliced with Cura. Need to to more testing to adjust prime/suck settings even though current settings seem to work fine.

I also needed to mod my Cube mobo so i can adjust the stepper current. Initial vref was 0.35V, now running at 0.7V.

I bought some wood filament, i might try that hunter skull to see ho it work :)
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: HittinBottom on March 29, 2016, 02:29:47 pm
Can you post your cura settings for the cube printer?  I downloaded it but not sure what values to input for the cube.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on March 30, 2016, 10:00:45 am
Can you post your cura settings for the cube printer?  I downloaded it but not sure what values to input for the cube.

Sure. I'll start new thread about Cura.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on April 09, 2016, 04:42:26 pm
I've been having problems with bulk filaments jamming now and then. Adjusting the wheel opposite of the stepper has helped quite a lot, but still some of the filaments tend to get stuck. Now that i change my extruder to Aitrippers Bowden type extruder, the problem got actually worse and i think it's because with bowden type extruder longer prime and suck settings are needed, i.e. filament needs to move backwards and forwards more than with the default direct drive system.

I fixed this by simply drilling the hotend input hole bigger. 2mm drill bit seems to work fine (could not find 1.9mm bit and frankly i don't think that it makes any difference...). Actually there's only ~1mm of material to drill away, after that the hole in the hotend seems to be 2mm (at least) all the way. I wonder if this is just one of the thing that 3DSystems has done to steer people away from using bulk filament... anyhoo, no more jams so far. Before drilling, my attempts at priting with PETG failed within 5 minutes with filament jam. Actually could not even get the filament out of the hotend at one point, had to use the Cube needle to force the stuff out...
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on April 11, 2016, 03:57:13 am
Sigh... started printing Hunters_scull yesterday, using Bamboofill filament. It went fine for ~7 hours and quality seemed to be very good, but something happened during night and filament jam. Hopefully i can find a good reason why, otherwise it's just hit and miss what to do about it... It could be the hot end itself, need to see if there's some rough edges in the input hole. Or it could be a tight spot in the bowden tube setup, need to check those and use 2mm drill bit to widen the tube ends. Also Bamboofill might be just too fragile and constant forward/backwards movement might weaken it and gear grinds a hole in it, causing a stall.
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on April 11, 2016, 01:15:14 pm
Ok it seems that the problem was with the extruder, the point where the bowden tube attaches to the extruder frame was very tight, had trouble getting filament past that point. Used 2mm drill bit to widen it and so far it's been printing fine. Fingers crossed... ::)
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on April 13, 2016, 09:33:04 am
Aaand... didn't work. Actually the Cube hot nozzle setup is quite interesting. There's an PT.. PFE... PFTE? tube with 2mm inner diameter INSIDE the nozzle that apparently came loose after my drilling and clogged the nozzle occasionally. Well got that out which definitely opened the nozzle up. But i stumbled on another issue when doing testprints with bamboofill: the nozzle temperature doesn't seem to be stable. I printed with 200 C and during pahsese whee more filament was extruded, like solids, the flow would just stop after starting fine. After thinking what has changed, i remembered that i lowered the temp from 210 to 200 at some point when testing different settings. Set the temperature back to 210 and no problems.
So this means that apparently the nozzle can't keep up when there's lot's of material going through it. I don't know how bad the problem is as i don't have thermometer capable of measuring the nozzle temperature, but i hope this problem can be overcome by just upping the temperature. I did have a look at the motherboard for clues how the temperature is adjusted and it seems it's the main controller and as the firmware is poprietary, no change of fixing possible problems...
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on April 17, 2016, 01:21:28 pm
Ok seems that i got most of the problems sorted out with the hot end. There does seem to be some fluctuation about the temperature depending how much filament is fed through it and Cube's motherboard can't adjust fast enough or something... well so far upping the temperature seems to be enough to fix that.
However, i had a bigger problem with filament jams inside the nozzle. As i removed to inner tube, i reasoned that the upper part of the tube was getting too hot and filament was getting too hot too early and without the tube, would melt just enough to cause a blockage. Well i went and attached a heatsink to the middle part of the nozzle and adjusted the cooling fan a bit. Results: no filament jams so far.

Printed this with bamboofill (6 hrs with current Slic3r settings):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0v1tkihihojpmd/2016-04-17%2012.20.20.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ex24aa5uez62v1/2016-04-17%2012.20.30.jpg?dl=0
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: techroom on May 11, 2016, 11:33:34 am
While researching the Cube 3D printer, I became aware that 3D systems prevent users from using generic PLA filament by inserting a chip into their cartridges which allows the printer's internal computer to roughly gauge how much filament is left in the cartridge (preventing you from starting a print which there's not enough filament to print) . This hack however : http://hackaday.com/2013/04/26/cube-3d-printer-hack-lets-you-use-bulk-filament/ is "supposed" to be the answer.   In actual fact, all it does is waste time and filament, with zero net benefit... Here's why :

A little background.
The cube printer has an inbuilt chip in every single filament cartridge.  It, like many 2D printers provides feedback to the printer's interal computer to allow it know how much "ink" (filament in this case) is left in the cartridge.  It also prevents the user from using an empty cartridge, or reloading the cartridge with more filament once it becomes empty.  3D systems would like you to purchase more expensive filament instead of reloading your old cartridge. They even scare the user by issuing statements to the effect of "only use cube filament in your printer, using 3rd party filament may damage your printer and void your warranty".   

The hackaday article, provides reference to a seemingly useful part which you can print which allows the user to trick the system into using 3rd party filament, all one had to do is accept the Cube printers warning that it is running out of filament, and apparent problem solved.  Wrong.  Problem is, that even if you do use 3rd party filament with this technique, the printer will continue to reduce the "available filament" variable in the filament cartridge's chip.  When this figure reaches zero, the printer will prevent you from using even your third party filament as you are no longer given a warning of which you can accept or deny... You're simply prevented from printing all together. 

The solution. 
I argued with myself as to whether to make this public, as I'm pretty sure 3D systems will do an applesque fix for this in future firmware, but realized I have copys of firmware on my machine which I will make available should 3D systems patch their firmware to prevent this from working. 

Firstly, forget about printing the part in the hackaday article.  It's a waste of filament and electricity.  (Ill explain why in future articles).  Find and print a suitable spool holder for your generic PLA filament.  Make sure you continue to use the cube tube with your new spool holder though as this is actually a novel and useful idea which prevents your filament from malforming before it enters the Cube's extruder.

 To make things simpler, I keep the instructions in note form.  This also assumes you've figured out how to load generic filament into the extruder.

1) make sure you insert a cartridge which contains available filament into the cartridge slot.  This is to trick the printer into allowing you to select a file to print. 
2) start the print as normal.  If there "dummy" cartridge you used was nearly empty, you may be warned about insufficient remaining filament.  If so confirm your intention to proceed by selecting the "tick" icon. 
3) the cube will begin to old the file and heat the extruder.  At ANY TIME during this process, select the "stop" button.
4) you will be asked to confirm if you want to abort the print... DON'T select anything.
5) Now remove the "dummy" cartridge from the printer.
6) the cube printer will continue print the object despite the cartridge being removed and importantly, won't reduce the available filament variable on your dummy cartridge's chip while it is printing.  If you try and do this without pressing the stop button, the sneaky software will force you to replace the cartridge within 30 seconds before aborting the print.

A little messy, but this "hack" actually will allow you to print using bulk filament and provide you with a real net benefit ; cheaper printing. 

Any questions, feel free to ask.
Dan


Hi Dan,

I have a Cube x Duo.  Do you know if this process works for this 3d printer?  I did follow your steps but I don't have a STOP button only Cancel. I hit cancel asked me if I wanted to and disregarded,  proceeded to take out the dummy cartridge it did continue  for a few moments then stated the cartridge was removed and to replace. I did nothing but the print stopped. The time was still elapsing as if it were printing. Any thoughts? 
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: spegelius on May 20, 2016, 02:25:41 pm
Dan hasn't been active for a while, but what i understand about the hack, it relies on a 'bug' in Cube 1 and 2 firmware. Apparently that bug has been fixed on later Cube 1 firmwares at least, so i'm not upgrading. Judging from what you describe about the Duo's behaviour, this bug is not present...
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Renan on July 18, 2016, 06:47:08 pm
hi i tested this and works good but i have one question that is make write this cube use 1,62mm and i use 1,75 filament but sometimes when is printing something my cube makes a noise like "tek tek tek"and no filament i lost some pieces how i resolve this ? sorry for my english  ??? ??? ???
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on November 18, 2016, 01:19:48 am
Available unblockers and chip reseter for CubeX, CubePro and Cube .... www.cube3dfree.com
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on December 12, 2016, 02:07:09 pm
Now available chip reseter for CubePro, no connections to printer required ... CUBE3DFREE
Title: Chip reseter for CubePro and CubeX
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on December 20, 2016, 12:31:43 pm
Now available chip reseter for CubePro and CubeX printers, allowing to pay +10x lower prices for materials, sold in spools of 1Kg .... www.cube3dfree.com
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: Martha Breed on December 21, 2016, 07:38:32 pm
I did it!
https://youtu.be/gw-WScnYE9M
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: prof2meca on February 11, 2017, 11:42:56 am
Hello i am a french teacher in electronic

I bought a card for my cubepro duo

The card dosn't work !!!

It is a shame and the seller said that i don't know how to use it

now i have a litige on paypal, don't buy this expensive sheet
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on February 11, 2017, 12:21:13 pm
There are more than 500 modules installed worlwide working. It's very strange your interest in post fake information to afraid people. Ir's crimminal. The module you sent to my partner was tested and working 100%, no defects. The problem is you .... probably received $$$ to do this
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: prof2meca on February 11, 2017, 12:31:04 pm
i am not a criminal

i just INFORM that you are a thief

CUBE3DFREE dosn't work !!! Don(t buy this expensive item

For information i a a french électronic teacher, if someone want a evidence that is not a problem

Don't trust this personn
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on February 11, 2017, 02:09:27 pm
I have also full chips (100%) available for CubeX and CubePro .... if someone wants to refill your own cartridges, USD 20,00 each
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: prof2meca on February 11, 2017, 02:14:26 pm
be careful you will pay a lot of money for something that dosn't work

This seller is liar

You should see that :
http://www.openbuilds.com/threads/cube-3-pro-hacks.8420/

http://www.print3dforum.com/showthread.php/900-Cube3-Filament-*SOFTWARE*-Hack-is-here!!!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on February 11, 2017, 02:53:04 pm
I have also full chips (100%) available for CubeX and CubePro .... if someone wants to refill your own cartridges, USD 20,00 each

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on February 11, 2017, 02:54:46 pm
I have also full chips (100%) available for CubeX and CubePro .... if someone wants to refill your own cartridges, USD 20,00 each

Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: prof2meca on February 11, 2017, 02:56:09 pm
this seller is a liar, don't trust him

all is fake !!!!

CUBE3DFREE doesn't work !!!
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: ROBERTO GEHLEN OLIVEIRA on February 13, 2017, 01:41:57 am
You are a crimminal person, posting false information. There are more than 500 modules working worldwide ... probably you are someone related to 3DS .... be careful because I will report you to the authorities
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: prof2meca on February 20, 2017, 02:59:08 am
be careful this seller CUBE3DFREE is a thief

the card dosn't work and he uses many mail adress !!!!

Don't buy to this man
Title: Re: Crap hack. Bulk filament
Post by: pugiyac on March 18, 2017, 10:02:27 am
Hi i just want to share the way i used in order to be able using 1.75mm bulk filament:
Before that every second print i had to tighten the screw that holds the stepper counter - after
doing those steps i had more that 70-80 hours of printing without any problem..

I disassembled the print head cover and released  fan+ light sensor screws.
took out the pulley (black and white circle) and grind small amount of metal from it (see pic 1).
then i noticed the pulley has a small bulge on the back side which fits exactly to it place every time you tight the nut back.
Therefore, every time you will tighten the screw to the pulley will be aligned to factory setting and not to 1.75m - and that we don't want !
so, i grinded the hole  that which the bulge fits into (the socket on the chase of the print head) then i had free space  to determine how
the pulley will be.

Now everything working just right, without any need to tight the bolts.  8)

P.s
you don't need an expensive device to hack your cube printer in order to use bulk filament (read the first post).
Just use "Crap hack" steps easy. the guy that sales those chips should consider lower to price.
paying for the "hack device" more then 15$ is a really bad joke..